Teaching life skills through music

Louis Rieger, owner of High Street Music Co. in Pottstown, gives a lesson to 12-year-old Akira Love, a student at Pottstown Middle School. Rieger has operated the school on East High Street for the past 10 years, growing from a student base of about 80 to several hundred.
Donna Rovins — Digital First Media

Pottstown >> When Louis Rieger first saw the building that would become the home of High Street Music Co. at 135 E. High St., he was pleasantly surprised.

He didn’t have much knowledge about Pottstown at the time — just some things he had heard. But when he drove down High Street to meet the Realtor, he remembers thinking, ‘this is really nice.’”

“When I saw the building I thought — ‘this is awesome.’ And even the address — because 1-3-5 is significant in music. I thought ‘that is kind of cool,’” he said.

Rieger has never looked back.

High Street Music Co. opened in December 2006 and offers instrumental music lessons in brass, woodwinds, strings, guitar, bass, piano, drums as well as voice. There is also a drum and percussion ensemble and a rock ensemble.

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High Street Music Co. also has a recording studio, but Rieger stresses the primary focus of the business is education.

“We’re doing a lot of good stuff in the studio. We’re doing a lot of commercial work, doing a lot of audio books as well as having musicians in to record.”

Many of Rieger’s students come from the Pottstown School District, and he has worked hard to establish a strong relationship with the school district. But as the business has grown over the last 10 years, it has also attracted students from school districts across the tri-county area including: Boyertown, Upper Perkiomen, Owen J. Roberts, Daniel Boone and Spring-Ford.

“It is wonderful having Louis and High Street Music so close by. I know the students are going to get a high-quality lesson when they get there,” said Mike Vought, director of bands at Pottstown High School.

Rieger acknowledges he has a reputation with his students for being a tough teacher. He said the kids know he cares, and that his toughness comes from a “place of caring.”

“I want them to respect the resource, respect their parents’ time and money and the fact they are able to have lessons,” he said. “I am a strong believer in teaching life skills — not just music — but life skills through music.

“I would like to see each student get as close to maxing out their potential as possible, and not become complacent because they can play a little bit or be satisfied with the status quo,” he added.

Rieger grew up in southern New Jersey, and attended Rowan University for music education, graduating in 1996. His instrument is the bass — electric and upright. He also plays piano, guitar, trumpet and some drums.

His background includes performance, producing and music education. He is also an adjunct music teacher at The Hill School in Pottstown.

After graduating from college, Rieger worked at a music center in New Jersey, before relocating to the west coast for a year. He then moved to Chester Springs and started teaching at Limerick Guitar Studios. When that business closed suddenly, Rieger was left to decide what to do next.

“At that point I was not expecting to start another business,” he said. Basically I had asked some of the teachers — ‘if I was able to find a place would you trust me to come over?’”

Many of them said yes. With the decision made, Rieger started to line up students and look for a location.

“I made one phone call — he (the realtor) called back and said he had a buddy with 2,000 square feet of raw space in Pottstown,” he said.

Rieger said the original owner of the High Street building worked to get lighting in, laminate flooring down and constructed a drum room in the basement. And just a few weeks later — in December 2006 — the business was ready to open.

High Street Music Co. started with six teachers (including Rieger) and about 80 students. Three months after opening, one of the teachers left, and took 15-20 students with him.

“I was on a shoestring — it was like the rug had been pulled out. Then we slowly began to build. Now we have a couple hundred students,” he said.

“He’s proven himself to be a value to our kids and the community — we love having him here,” Vought added. “He is tough — not one to say ‘good job’ just to say it. He really cares about the progress a student is making.”

With a staff of 11, Rieger said right now the school has the best staff it has had, which he says has helped the business grow.

“The fact that we focus on high standards and the quality of the education is a huge part of the business,” he added.

In addition to private lessons, High Street Music Co. offers students a chance to play in smaller ensembles — drum and percussion ensembles and rock ensembles. Rieger said most of the students are used to playing in larger bands and jazz bands, adding that the smaller ensembles let them see how each part affects the group.

Twice a year — in the spring and fall — the school holds a recital in the theater at The Hill School. The spring recital was held April 23.

Like many small businesses, the recession presented some challenges for Rieger, who admits that two years into the business, he felt he might actually have to close the doors.

“This was a luxury for people — it’s the first thing they cut,” he said.

Rieger added that even with the recession, his business saw growth every year.

“Right now we have the most students we have ever had, and it’s just continuing to grow,” he said.

That growth has led Rieger to think about the possibility of, and need to expand. He’s not talking specifics, but does say an expansion would allow him to pursue the formation of a nonprofit he has been thinking about for several years. Called “from the streets to the studio,” the organization would help students learn about music technology.

And while the nonprofit is not formally up and running, Rieger has worked with the Pottstown School district to establish and install a state of the art recording studio and a curriculum to offer students some first-hand experience in music technology.

Vought said the music technology class at Pottstown High School started in 2015 and continues to grow.

“It is a long-term plan and Louis had a lot to do with coming up with the curriculum and the equipment needs and training,” he said. “He’s good at seeing and thinking about the future of these kids and nurturing them.”

About the Author

Donna Rovins is business editor of The Mercury, developing, writing, planning and executing the daily local Business section. Reach the author at drovins@pottsmerc.com
or follow Donna on Twitter: @mercbiz.